1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of fitting a horse for a saddle pad or a riding saddle and, more particularly, to a method of fitting a horse that does not require transporting the horse to a fitting location or a trained fitting professional to travel to the horse.
2. Description of the Related Art
Bruising and making sore a horse""s back has been a problem with known prior art riding saddles, because most saddles may concentrate the combined weight of saddle and rider (or pack) at a relatively few and small points of contact between the saddle and the back of the horse. Bruising may result at these points of contact when the pressure exceeds about 1xc2xd pounds per square inch, which is the amount of pressure some considered to be the maximum before bruising occurs.
For example, a typical western-type saddle includes a tree frame with two relatively straight sidebars. The natural sway of a horse""s back in the vicinity of the center of these bars often prevents supporting contact between the horse""s back and the bars at this point. As a result, the combined weight of saddle and rider may be supported or concentrated at the four areas of contact in the vicinity of the forward and rearward portions of each bar. The total effective supportive contact area with this type of saddle (ill-fitting) may be typically about 36 square inches, which results in about 5xc2xd pounds of pressure per square inch of contact for a 200 pound load well in excess of the recommended 1xc2xd pounds per square inch. The amount of pressure exerted by the forward part of the saddle is even more concentrated because saddles are desirably designed to concentrate more of the weight at the forward end of the saddle to be more directly over the horse""s front legs. The bruising problem is particularly aggravated when the horse is under saddle for long periods of time over rough terrain. These conditions commonly occur during competitive endurance riding.
Saddles and saddletrees have remained more or less fixed in size and shape based on standards established centuries ago. While some saddletrees are being made from synthetic materials such as plastic and fiberglass, many trees are still being made of wood. A wood tree is covered in rawhide as has been the practice for centuries; or, is covered in fiberglass if more modern materials are being used. As a result, a Western tree may weigh in the neighborhood of forty pounds. By the time leather covering and padding is added, the resultant saddle may weigh upwards of fifty to sixty pounds. The tree itself is typically of one-piece construction and comprises a pommel in the front (with or without a horn) and a cantle in the back connected by sidepieces. Basically; there is the Arabian tree and the Quarter horse tree. The only difference is the distance between the sidepieces and the vertical rise of the pommel (so as to fit around the withers without contacting). A saddletree is supposed to fit over the ridge of a horse""s back at both the pommel and cantle and the sidepieces are supposed to fit along the back of the horse on either side of the ridge spreading the weight of the rider over a large area.
Typically, saddles are sized by measuring the distance from the pommel to the cantle with a fifteen-inch saddle considered small and an eighteen-inch saddle considered large. Thus, the size variations of standard saddles are relatively small. Unfortunately, such is not the case for the horses.
When placing a saddle on the back of a horse, it is essential that the saddle not tilt to either side or forward/backward. Furthermore, it is important that the saddle not rock longitudinally. Attempts to satisfy such requirements have used different kinds of cushion paddings, which are adapted between the horse""s back and the saddle frame to places considered functional.
However, the backs of horses have individual shapes both in the transverse and longitudinal direction of the back. Moreover, as the above-mentioned cushion paddings may be factory-made and thus of standard shape and size, such cushion paddings may not satisfy the requirements listed above. Furthermore, ready-made cushion paddings may generally comply unsatisfactorily with the shape of the back of the horse, which may cause back pain and even injure the back of the horse. Such an outcome is difficult to prevent, since the poor compatibility of the cushion paddings is typically noted only after the horse""s back has become sore. A further problem in the correct placement of the cushion paddings is caused by the saddle, which prevents visual and tactile inspection to determine where to add or remove padding. Also the mounting of the rider on the saddle changes its position and complicates the fitting of the paddings.
One attempt to solve the problem of improperly fitted saddles is the banana shaped pad that is curved along its longitudinal length like a banana. Several companies marker a banana shaped pad today. The banana pad may be made of two pieces that are banana shaped so that the pad is contoured to fit the contour of a horse""s spine line. The banana pad can be distinguished from standard pads that are just a square felt pad. While banana pads help, they do not solve the problem of injury to horse because of ill-fitted saddles. In addition to factory-made paddings, horsehair and rags have been employed for saddle pads. However, these materials have the same basic deficiencies as factory-made cushion paddings.
Numerous prior art devices have attempted to solve the bruising and the making the backs of horses sore.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,353,622 to Boyle provides for rigid contact plates supported by ball and socket joints at the front and rear of each rail of the saddle. These contact plates do not flex and are unable to continuously conform to the changing shape of the horse""s back as it moves. Additionally, the individual plates are not intended to flex in order to conform to the shape of the horse""s back.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,286,440 to Walker, et el. provides a lightweight, rigid saddle. This saddle, however, does not specifically conform to the shape of a horse""s back and as a result the weight of the rider and saddle may be distributed to only a few points of contact, depending upon the shape of the individual horse""s back. Even though the saddle is designed to be lightweight, this does nothing to lessen the weight of the rider or distribute the weight evenly over the surface of the horse""s back.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,371,467 to Salisbury provides for a custom, molded fiberglass, reinforced saddle. The saddletree is reinforced fiberglass made from upper and lower shells. The lower shell is contoured to fit the back of the horse and on each side has a convex front portion adapted to fit onto the withers and a convex rear portion adapted to fit onto the back of a horse, with a central ridge forming a tunnel extending longitudinally of the shell and being sufficiently high to clear the backbone of the horse. The saddle is intended to evenly distribute the weight of the rider and saddle over the back of the horse when the horse is at rest. However, the saddle does not flex to conform to the continuously changing configuration of the horse""s back as it is moving. That is, the shoulders of the horse change shape as the horse moves and in as much as the weight of the rider and saddle tend to be concentrated at the forward end of the saddle, on the sides of the withers, the bruising and making sore problem continues.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,835,621 to Gorenschek provides for a flexible saddletree in which the entire saddle is flexible. The invention of the Gorenschek patent requires that the tree frame on the saddle itself be flexible and does not allow for a standard rigid tree frame to be adapted for flexible conforming fit with the back of a horse.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,745,734 discloses a riding saddle including a tree frame having first and second, spaced-apart, generally parallel bars; first and second flexible skirts each having a surface area respectively greater than the surface area of lower face of the side bars; and fasteners coupling the skirts with the lower face of their corresponding bars. The skirts have flexing portions and flex to conform to the contours of the back of the horse on which the saddle is placed and are biased to return to the unflexed position when the saddle is removed from the horse. Preferably, the skirts include a layer of polycarbonate resin or plastic, a layer of foam rubber, and a layer of fleece-like material.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,272 discloses attaching a saddle to an equine by means of left and right bar straps attached to the left and right bars in the saddletree. The bars are slotted to receive the stirrup leathers for mounting in the conventional western style. The use of bar straps does not interfere with such mounting of the stirrups, owing to the way in which the bar straps are mounted to the bars. In a preferred embodiment each bar strap starts on the outside of its associated bar and proceeds upward, over the top of the bar and thence downward along the inside of the bar. If the starting point is very near the bottom of the bar a slot in the bar strap aligns with the stirrup slot in the tree. In another embodiment a long length of strap is looped over the top portion of the bar above the slot, with the outer segment of the loop passing through the stirrup slot. The two portions of the loop rejoin each other on the underside of the bar, where the two proceed downward as one. In either embodiment the bottom end of each bar strap is fitted with an optical transition and with a fastener, such as billet straps, to connect to the remaining portion of the rigging. Owing to the length of the bar straps, the location of the fastening to the remainder of the rigging is such that it is not in the vicinity of the knees of a short rider.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,119,618 uses a multi-layer pad that includes a flexible pressure plate members and packets filled with a fluid gel of a silicone material to transfer localized forces from the saddle across the pressure plate which has deformed to the shape of the horse""s back there under. The packets lie against the pressure plate members with the fluid confined therein between the saddle and the pressure plate members so that localized forces from the saddle are hydraulically transferred over the surface of the pressure plates and over a broad area of the back of the horse.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,195,306 discloses a saddletree constructed of upper and lower plastic shells which are secured together. A first strap passes inside the saddletree below the swell and pommel area and a second strap passes inside the saddletree below the cantle area, both may be attached to the upper surface of the lower shell near the centerline of the saddletree and depend from the saddletree on both sides of the attachment of other saddle rigging components.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,435,116 discloses a racing saddle which flexibly confirms to a horse""s back to accommodate the physically characteristics of a given horse, and incorporates a damping system to preclude excessive vibrations in the flexible materials. The saddletree includes a pair of laterally spaced apart, flexible synthetic skirts connected by a spanning member and a seat clement. The seat element is coupled with the respective skirts at two forward pivot mountings, and the spanning member extends between the skirts at a rearward position. The seat element carries a skid assembly at a position just rearward of the pommel, and this assembly deforms under compressive loading to provide damping action. The cantle portion of the seat element slidably and frictionally engages the top of the spanning member.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,802,823 discloses a shock absorbing panel assembly for positioning beneath a saddle and includes right-hand and left-hand panels for positioning in pockets in a saddle pad or blanket on the right-hand and left-hand side of a horse""s back. Each panel is of multi-layer construction and includes a base with at least one layer of foam or other cushioning material and one layer of non-cushioning material. The base has at least two recesses and a shock absorbing pad is mounted in each recess to project out of the recess. Each pad also has two layers of cushioning material with an intervening layer of non-cushioning material.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,044,630 discloses a saddle that is constructed around a tree designed using data points based on X, Y, and Z axes which correspond to the conformation of a horse""s back. Two pair of torsion springs, attached with specifically placed rivets, sandwich the tree providing structural support. To cushion and maintain the equidistant configuration of the tree, panels are carefully constructed using a six-pound foam. The thickness of the panel lessens as it reaches the edge of the tree, preventing bunching when the leather is attached. A withers wedge is secured to the panel adjacent the withers, serving as a sub-support and buffering the contact between the tree and the horse""s withers. The cantle wedge is set into the panel to control the slant and angle of the saddle. The stirrup bar is an elongated V-shaped which places the area of greatest pressure directly under the securing rivets.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,334,262 discloses a device and method of measurement of a horse""s back that employs a mechanical device having articulated transverse linkages comprising a parallelogram assembly having the first arm as one link, an opposing link, and further comprising a hub member, with transverse opposing wings each of the wings being pivotally joined to the hub member for defining shape and indicia to determine a series of angles. The measuring device is able to describe angles and arcs in order to determine the convex and concave portions of polyform shapesxe2x80x94in this preferred embodiment relating to animal backs and their corresponding saddles. The disclosed invention describes a method and formula to adjust the shape of such a device to compensate for the weight of the rider relative to the weight of the animal as well as additional factors is also provided by this process. Additional calibration of the measuring device can also be refined by employing interface pressure measurement.
An object of the invention is a system and method by which a precision casting is created of the surface area of a horse""s back where a saddle would be located. The precision cast can be made without the need to transport the horse to a specially equipped facility or require a trained horse fitting professional to travel to the location where the horse is located.
Another object of the invention is the creating of a precision casting of the horse""s back so that a future fiberglass prosthetic shell that molds to the contours of the horse""s back can be made. The fiberglass shell can be placed in between the layers of a horse saddle pad or can be used to make a saddle. The shell can be used to store the saddle, allowing the saddle to remain in the same shape as if the saddle were on the horse.
Another object of the invention is the advantage of having a rigid layer conforming to the unique contours of the horse for which it was made sandwiched between the saddle and the horse""s back is that the pressure being exerted on the back of the horse from the load placed on the saddle as well as the mass of the saddle becomes evenly distributed over the entire area on which the fiberglass shell is positioned. A relief area is placed along the ridge where the horse""s spine and withers would come into contact with the shell, thereby insulating the spine from directly bearing the load. This withers relief line effectively reduces physiological injuries resulting from uneven load distributions, pressure points, and poorly fitting saddles.
Still other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become evident to those of ordinary skill in the art in light of the following.
A system and method for fitting a horse for a saddle pad or a saddle that includes positioning a horse in a working position with a head down so that the neck is horizontal and a spine is linear. The next step is the marking of first and second reference marks on the horse. The person doing the fitting then positions a pad on a back of the horse with a slit facing the head, a centerline in parallel alignment with the spine, and first and second pad marks in parallel alignment with the first and second reference marks, respectfully. The fitter then secures the pad on the back with a plastic wrap wrapped around the entire circumference of the pad and a midsection of the horse. The fitter then place a formable casting material onto the pad to form a cast of the back of the horse. The casting is then checked to make sure it conforms to the contour of the horse""s back and is then transported to a saddle or pad shop or manufacturing facility to be made into a saddle pad or saddle.